Wiikly Wares: C64 games launch an Onslaught on Wii
by David Hinkle 
{ Feb 23rd 2009 at 12:30PM } 
Click image for more bug blastin' screens
There are plenty of new goodies to check out on Wii this week. including a whole new system on the Virtual Console! We won't bother wasting any more time here typing out words you're going to just ignore, so shoot down for the details you crave.
Virtual Console
International Karate (C64, 1 - 2 players, 500 Wii Points): Features man-vs-man karate fighting to the death. Well, not really, but it is karate sparring. Do you need to know anything else?
The Last Ninja (C64. 500 Wii Points): Armakuni is literally the last ninja ever, and takes up a quest to destroy the evil Shogun Kunitoki. You'll have to rely on all of your ninja abilities if you hope to survive this one!
Pit Stop II (C64, 1 -2 players, 500 Wii Points): Enjoy split-screen action, or merely play alone in this C64 F1 racer. It's the first game to bring racing to the home computer and features six different tracks to race on, as well as true-to-life pit stop technology.
WiiWare
Onslaught (Hudson, FPS, 1,000 Wii Points): Hudson's FPS focuses on the war between humans and space bugs. The game features wave after wave of space bug baddies and includes boss fights and leaderboard support via Nintendo WFC. Sadly, though, the game does not include Michael Ironside.
Gallery: Onslaught
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:35PM
I'll be really interested to see what the public response is to Onslaught and what people think. The wifi capability is compelling. Got rave reviews from www.wiiware-world.com, any Joystiqers here buy it???
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:49PM
Well... the title received very good reviews from WiiWare World (which is actually the only site I trust when it comes to WiiWare game reviews). It's a nice game for a decent price... online co-op and battles, and a single player mode.
The graphics are nice too... too bad that Joystiq posted some ugly pictures the last time...
Watch the vide in High Quality... the weapon model it's actually pretty good...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZxYompMUA&feature=related
Well... it's nice to have a FPS directy on the Wii systemo for a few quick online battles without the need of inserting a disc.
Yourself @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:54PM
I'm curious as the the quality of the control. The video Fernando linked makes it look like almost Red Steel-esque aiming, which is certainly a deal-breaker. However, it would be nice to know what kind of options are available - whether the sensitivity can be tuned, etc.
Then again, that's why games everywhere else on the planet are released with demos.
Dopple Boppler @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:22PM
I bought it, done the first few levels and it's pretty fun. It's kind of an odd mix between Turok (N64), Sin and Punishment, and Halo, with some non-sensical dialogue ("That's why you're still a kid") thrown in for good measure.
I've never played Red Steel, but from what I've played it feels pretty similar to Metroid Prime 3. And yes, the sensitivity has five settings.
Rambeaux @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:49PM
Commodore 64 games now?
As one of the very few kids I knew to experience the awesomeness (or sometimes lack thereof) of the Commodore 64, I must say - AWESOME! That platform nearly single-handedly started my obsession with old-school arcade games like Moon Patrol and Centipede.
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:57PM
Many a game of M.U.L.E. was played between my brothers and my cousins on the C64 back in the day.
mr mobius @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:44PM
Except that you could have sat through a MGS4 cut-scene in the time it took to load the tiny cassette.
My cousin had a C64 and as a very young kid, it was a pretty sweet intro to gaming, even though by that stage the NES was in full flow, and the SNES was probably out.
Gregorius @ Feb 23rd 2009 12:51PM
I hope they release Montezuma's Revenge from the C64.
Balloonfighter99 @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:02PM
I hate to admit it, but I am pretty in the dark on Commodore 64. Was it the NES equvilent? I always thought it was like the Atari systems but I guess not. I am 28 and grew up gaming but this never made a splash where I live (Ohio), or maybe it did(I was very young then). Is 500 points worth a game?
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:04PM
I wouldn't say equivalent, but it was NES'esque. It wasn't a console, it was a computer. And I'd say if there isn't the nostalgia factor there for you, you should probably pass.
Mr Khan @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:15PM
the C64 was a game computer. It was the "hardcore" console of its day and age. Many proponents of the C64 and especially its successor the Amiga looked down on the NES and Super NES much like proponents of the PS360 do to Wii today
Capable of both more and less. Less graphical acuity, but far more options for gameplay types and whatnot
Evan @ Feb 23rd 2009 2:31PM
The C64 and NES are very close.
- They used variants of the same CPU, but the NES was clocked at 1.8MHz vs the C64's 1.0MHz.
- They both used hardware sprites and tiled backgrounds, but the NES was higher resolution: 256x200 vs 160x200. (The C64 supported 320x200 with limited color, but most games used 160x200 which provided more colors on screen at once.)
- The C64 had 64KB of RAM, vs 2KB on the NES, but games had to be loaded into the C64's RAM to play.
- C64 disks stored 170KB x two sides, more than ROMs.
So, the NES was a bit more powerful and higher resolution than the C64, but the C64 had more memory and storage. The C64's real advantage was it's wealth of shareware and freeware games.
Popfrogs @ Feb 23rd 2009 4:13PM
@Evan: How could you overlook the SID chip in that comparison? The single greatest analog/digital hybrid sound chip ever made. The NES sound stunk in comparison.
Also note that the C64 SID chip was designed by an Ensoniq engineer, before he left MOS to start Ensoniq.
Rocketboy @ Feb 24th 2009 8:44AM
How can you overlook that the C=64 was an actual computer. You are not calling up any BBSes with your lame NES are you?
Ram @WiiSpotlight @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:06PM
Great! A new virtual console... However, I never played it, Are those C64 games worth downloading?
baby sea tuna @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:12PM
Probably not for 5 bucks apiece.
Balloonfighter99 @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:08PM
Was that C64 in the movie "Big"?
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:13PM
Gotta love it when he types and says "melt ice wizard"
Balloonfighter99 @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:20PM
@ Markez , Yah, I always wanted to play that game but didn't know if it was real or not. I always kinda assumed it was made for the movie like the fake prop toys you see in 80's movies.
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:22PM
"throw thermal pod"
Jerk Face @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:22PM
Okay, seriously: Onslaught looks like the worst game ever. Not only does it look worse than an N64 game, the gameplay itself looks so damned lame. Nothing says fun and satisfying like shooting stupid crawling grubs with a bazooka for a couple of hours, boy-howdy! I bet the grubs get bigger in later levels! I get that it's only 10 bucks, but damn... That's ten bucks towards another game, you know? Has the Wii non-mini game collection well run that dry?
If I want an ugly, muddy shooter where I shoot bugs for hours, I'll go grab Armorines.
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:34PM
"melt jerk face"
Jerk Face @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:40PM
*melts*
Ha ha... Well played.
mr mobius @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:46PM
Invisible in 3, 2, 1....
*waits for everyone to +1 Jerk Face just to spite me*
Though yea, I'd spend that on an N64 game I know works well, or Lost Winds which has amazingly beautiful and serene graphics.
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:51PM
I bought Lost Winds and still have barely played it. Same story with the Final Fantasy WiiWare game. Also have SR2, GoW2, Fallout 3, NMH, Mario Galaxy, Harvest Moon: ToT, and really haven't played any of them much.
I *would* be interested in purchasing this however, because it doesn't look thaaat bad to me really, and plus I figure it might be a better online FPS experience to me than say Halo, where I just get worked over.
Rambeaux @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:46PM
Yes, you can view this screen shot as a FPS where it shows the main character's left hand steadying a rocket launcher....
BUT, if you take it out of context and imagine it as a third-person shooter with the thumb of the left hand = back of character's head, it looks like he's carrying a gun that's so comically large, it forces him to lean over out of lack of balance!
....sometimes our imaginations are more fun than any game.
mr mobius @ Feb 23rd 2009 1:51PM
Worst designed head in gaming for a long time.
Still a funny image though.
Kudos.
Rocketboy @ Feb 24th 2009 8:45AM
Well played my good friend, well played.
Biggie @ Feb 23rd 2009 2:00PM
500 points is too much for C64 games, especially when they are competing with free.
That being said I hope the release, MULE, Seven Cities of Gold, Castle of Doctor Creep, Elite and Impossible Mission. I might pay 500 points for one of those games.
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 2:07PM
I'll hunt your wumpus. I'd rather have the NES version.
Atlantis1982 @ Feb 23rd 2009 2:10PM
Rest assure, Impossible Mission is coming since it was released on the Europe VC.
umm....hello??? @ Feb 23rd 2009 2:37PM
I'd really love to see Ultimate Wizard from the C64...one of the great platforming games of its day.
Ninbrendo @ Feb 23rd 2009 4:49PM
LOAD"*",8,1
A few years ago I picked up the C64 version of those "plug-and-play" TV thingies. It's got thirty games or so (most of which I imagine will now find their way to the VC), but I bought it for one game and one game only:
Jumpman Junior
(Wico joystick required)
SoshiKitai @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:28PM
Jumpman... rocks.
Patrick @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:49PM
As someone who played International Karate on the C64 when I was a kid (wasn't World Karate Championship by Epyx the same game?), I seriously can't see any point in playing it now, as nostalgia would last me about ten minutes. When Street Fighter II came out in 1991, it was game over in my mind for International Karate, Karate Champ, and all those other 80's beat 'em ups.
tkAshur @ Feb 23rd 2009 11:45PM
my fav c64 game was space taxi...oh man i hope that ends up on there.
and will we ever see saturn games on here? could there really have been that much hatred for that system to not bring back some titles from it?
SoshiKitai @ Feb 24th 2009 12:39AM
...it would just seem odd to see Sega Saturn on a Virtual Console...
But I do love the Sega Saturn! That had some amazing games.
...just doubt I'd ever see it on the Virtual Console.
yyr @ Feb 24th 2009 12:01PM
Saturn games would be great, but:
1) I wonder how well the Saturn emulator would run. Saturn emulation is no small task.
2) The games often filled, or nearly filled, the discs they came on. Some games could take up the majority of the Wii's memory...how'd you like to copy everything to SD just so you can buy one game? =\
As for C64...if M.U.L.E. shows up I'm buying day one. Archon, Realm of Impossibility or Seven Cities of Gold would be great too. EA published so many quality games on C64...
tkAshur @ Feb 24th 2009 4:00PM
Oh my crap, totally forgot about M.U.L.E.! Gonna be a day one here too.
ae @ Feb 24th 2009 12:22PM
I got it last night its a fun game I only have two request a dedicated sprint button and a weapon melee the whip is fine but when ur in battle and u ammo is low and ur whip is out of energy a weapon melee just feels right but its a great game the audio is a bit cheesy and i wish there was a wii speak option for more orgnaized multilplayer but its a game i will be playing for a long time i wish high voltage would release a wii ware game like this with conduit tech and just have multiplayer battles
ericlentz @ Mar 9th 2009 6:37AM
I remember the C64, I am old enough to have remembered the fun games my friends and I used to play on it. Games like California Games (with the alien ship that picks up the guy if you wait too long in frisbee toss) and even surfing the bbs's for more games and stuff. The Vic20 (clone of the C64 but with less memory if I remember right. Kinda like how companies make 2 kinds of cpu's... one with less memory and one with just the right amount.) was a nice computer too and there was a voice card that allowed crappy synthetic voice (I think) through only one bomber game. The important thing is that if you liked NES games, go ahead and give the C64 emulated ones a try. Many of them were as popular as any you might have found on the NES and plus with them being on the computer meant hacks and cheats were easier. ;) lol!
I have played this game and I can tell you that right off the bat, you get to play with SIX weapons right away! Gun, Rifle, Machine Gun, Multi-Targeting-Rapid Firing Rocket Launcher, Energy Whip, and Grenade. Of all the early levels I found the "Hold the Base" one the toughest one. I honestly felt like I could relate to the way the troopers must have felt in Starship Troopers (waves and waves of bugs popping out of the ground and ammo running low), Fortunately in story mode you get this totally awesome jeep/gunner/combo that with ONE SHOT will take out an enemy that normally takes a lot of shooting to take down. Very handy when taking out the 'tank bugs' of the game. Co-op/team play doesn't give you that jeep as far as I know. Unlike *some* fps games I could mention, this one has enough levels (13 in all in story mode) that you won't be bored or plowing through it easily.
My advice for the game: Wipe all bug blood off(done with nunchuck) you before you start to hurt right away(it is toxic), don't walk off of places because even small heights hurt, and keep an eye on your ammo or the bugs will GET you. Oh, and all bugs have a certain range or style of attack. Learn them and you'll live longer. Finally, watch your radar because they will tell you if any bug managed to slip by you or come around from some other angle.
My pet peeve about the game: Early on you are joined by 2 others. One is a guy, and the other is a GIRL. Only problem is that aside from the fact that soldier says it is a girl... you can NOT visually tell! They ALL look alike aside from the glow color associated with the armor. If you're going to put a girl into the game, at least make her LOOK female.